The world’s richest 1% have used up their fair share of carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026, analysis has found.Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam.
how about a tax on their surplus use?
It is one in which he hopes to influence every major political decision in Venezuela by the presence of an armada just offshore, and perhaps to intimidate others in the region.
gunboat diplomacy
Little jets of wheezing laughter followed one another out of his convulsed body
ID: Action: Unhealthy/grotesque
made constant waves of expression break forth over his face from the corners of his nose and eyes and mouth
ID: Action: subordinate/solicitous
A yachting cap was shoved far back from his forehead
ID: External appearance: pretentious/superficial
squat and ruddy
ID: Exernal appearance: grotesque/excessive
rudeness
DD [Direct Definition]: Rude
at times obliged to step on to the road
ID: Action: Subordinate
bringing a long monologue to a close
ID [Indirect Definition]: Action: Talkative/Self-centered
Philip Levine
Great poet. Veteran Cal State Fresno prof. Originally from Detroit.
Cat
"Oh keep the Dog far hence, that’s friend to men, “Or with his nails he’ll dig it up again!" Eliot, "Waste Land"
While it's raining cats and dogs in the Hemingway story, there are very few animals in "The Waste Land." This reflects different meanings for nature in both texts.
The Eliot line presents dogs as a threat rather than humankind's boon companion. This makes sense as elements of nature in the rest of the poem are seen also seen as threatening and dangerous - - from "dead trees" to the ocean that drowns Phlebas to the "empty cisterns and exhausted wells" later in the poem.
The cat in Hemingway's story can be seen as a metaphor for all the things the "American wife" wants, for all the lacks and deficiencies she feels in her life (particularly her marriage). She wants to shelter the cat from inhospitable nature. This is very different from Eliot's poem, where there is not shelter from the storm or from a deranged nature.
On this note, a comparison of Nick's experience on the "Big Two-Hearted River" and of Eliot's representation of the polluted Thames might also be helpful
the heartland
the heartland . . .located above the lungs . . .
“Donna, sei tanto grande, e tanto vali, Che qual vuol grazia, e a te non ricorre, Sua disianza vuol volar senz’ ali.”
"Woman, you are so great, and so worthy, that what grace wants, and you do not have recourse to you, His dislike wants to fly without wings."
“Quae quondam rerum naturam sola gubernas.”
"You who alone once ruled the nature of things.'' Lucretius]
Lion
Lions are wild animals with a fearsome reputation for savagery and hi-jinks. . . always down to clown.
Philip Levine
Phil Levine was a great American poet and faculty emeritus at Cal State Fresno. He was also the U.S. Poet Laureate. Born in Detroit to a working-class family, he worked in factories for years before becoming a fantastic, superlative poet.
W.E.B. Du Bois, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”
When you annotate this time around, let's focus on connecting Du Bois to Adams. Think back to some of the ideas and motifs from our discussion of "The Dynamo and the Virgin." These might include:
irony (as the disjuncture between appearance and reality, or a split between subject and object and/or "force" and "form");
consciousness (vs. things/reality);
existentialism (i.e. a world/life without Truth, Final Destinations, Total Fulfillment, etc.);
crisis (as in a rupture or "irruption" of new forces, i.e. historical change);
Bonus connector: Recall that Adams opens his essay by declaring that "Until the Great Exposition of 1900 closed its doors in November, Adams haunted it . . ." I.e. Adams describes himself as a ghost. Can you find any similar moments in Du Bois where he uses the language of ghosts, haunting, spectres, etc. to explain his ideas? (If you can, remind me to talk Tuesday about "hauntology" - - a pun on "ontology.")
While I know you face many challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, I encourage you to use the portion of your award for Recipient’s Institutional Costs to expand your remote learning programs, build your IT capacity to support such programs, and train faculty and staff to operate effectively in a remote learning environment.
DoE CARES funding . . .
Allen Ginsberg, “Howl” (1956)
"Howl" was written in Berkeley, CA, and first performed in San Francisco in 1955. It was subsequently published in 1956.
Here's a quick intro to the poem:
https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/819087085-lawrence-hanley-intro-to-ginsberg-howl.mp3
Epigraph
Listen to this recording: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/787092007-lawrence-hanley-wastelandepigraph.mp3
In the little recording, I use the epigraph to point to a bunch of motifs in "The Waste Land." These include:
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: choose a five line excerpt from at least two of the four remaining sections of the poem ("A Game of Chess," "The Fire Sermon," "Death by Water," "What the Thunder Said"); use annotation to show me how many of the motifs from the list above you can find in each of your two excerpts; in each excerpt - - explain how the motif appears and what the motif seems to mean.
“It’s not really a great plan,” Mr. Melander noted. “It’s like saying: ‘I don’t have to have a fire extinguisher. I can run out and buy a fire extinguisher when the fire starts.’ It shows that this free market is only free when everything is fine.”
coronavirsu
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street
https://freesound.org/data/previews/235/235796_2735146-lq.mp3
Mandatory IRA fee must be approved for this specific purpose. Revenues other than then mandatory IRA fee recorde
reallocation of IRA funds?
Accounting, Reporting and Controlsa.All SF Statecapital projects must use the following PeopleSoft (PS) chart combination. b.Fund-unique department ID 627
IRA funds reallocated for Capital Projects?
with the plan to tap in IRA fee in the amount of $200K to fund the program if the fee reclassification succeeded.
"reclassification" of IRA fees at SFSU
IRA funds can only be used for “instructionally related activities” that enrich student life and learning.
IRA stands for Instructionally Related Activities.
on athletic fees from California code
Students pay an IRA fee at the time of tuition payment to provide financial support for specified instructionally related activities.
table of student fees at SFSU
Activities that are considered to be essential to a quality educational program and an important instructional experience for enrolled students will be considered.
From California Ed Code definition
Instructionally Related Activities are out-of-class experiences that enrich student life and learning. They are at least partially sponsored by an academic discipline or instructional department and their content is related to that discipline's curriculum.
not for faculty salary support: "Income from the IRA fee as distinguished from other revenues shall not be expended on matters which are tuitional. Thus such income shall not be used to support faculty positions." E.O. 290
Funding recommendations for college-associated IRA programs are based heavily on input from the student advisory committee members.
EO 1102: "Unless established prior to January 1, 2013, Category II fees established through an affirmative vote of the majority of the student body voting on the fee, but not specifically authorized by statute, shall not be reallocated to alternative purpose(s) without an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of either the student body or Campus Fee Advisory Committee voting on the reallocation. "
Students make up one-half the voting membership of, which plays a key role in deciding which IRA programs are recognized and in recommending funding for.
but per CSU EO 1102: "Students appointed by the campus student body association shall constitute a majority of the voting members of the Campus Fee Advisory Committee."
Natalie Diaz
Natalie Diaz biography.
Dynamo
Rebecca Solnit’s Blue
Love Rebecca Solnit. Do you want to make this a page? That way it doesn't get lost in the flow of blog posts and makes navigating to it easier. You can also set hypothesis to open only on pages, so that your posts don't get cluttered and graffitied (is that word?).
“The United States Welcomes You”
Nice poem! If you make it a separate page, you keep the flow of blog posts continuous and make it easier for a reader to navigate to the page.
Samih Al-Qasim’s “Enemy of the Sun”
Wow . . great poem! Do you want to keep the comment section below the page? In some ways hypothesis replaces this function. If you want to get rid of it - - you can do so via quick edit of this page.
Ode To Tomatoes
Good job, great poem! I see you're already tinkering with themes - - excellent. As you try out different themes, remember you can customize a theme that looks good (via widgets, plugins, etc.). As you cycle through themes, just make sure that the theme keeps the things you want (blogroll, page menus, etc.)
Maya Angelou
Nice poem. Is this a page or a blog post? It seems to be the only item on your wordpress homepage, which is fine so long as the blogposts are visible (as in your left sidebar). Which do you want to feature? Pages or blog posts?
Billy Collins
Billy Collins taught for years at Lehman College around the corner from my neighborhood in the Bronx. My sister met him several times at a local bar/restaurant where she waitressed. Evidently, an interesting guy in poetry and elsewhere . . .
In the beginning of the film, Coraline is focused on herself and ignores the wants and needs of those around her. As she falls into the “Other World,” she learns about false appearances when dealing with the “Other Mother”‘s tricks. Once she returns, Coraline gains a more mature perspective of the world as a whole instead of centered around herself.
This introductory paragraph works well because it introduces the main idea and structure of the essay: Caroline journeys to a new place and the place transforms here, i.e. A-B-A'.
The key elements of this transformation are defined clearly and succinctly: "focused on herself"; other world = discovery of false appearances; world as a whole and not self.
being able to “see” the real world around her
This sounds a lot like "Young Goodman Brown" to me: the journey through another world allows Coraline to see things she hadn't seen before. Why not score points and make this connection explicit? I.e. "As with Goodman Brown, Coraline's journey allows her to see her world in new ways."
Again, the connections back to Hawthorne and Irving don't have to be involved and wordy. A good analysis should note the connections but keep the focus on the narrative being interpreted.
the building looks as if it’s new with fresh paint and the grounds are now blooming with a garden full of flowers.
It would be great if the writer could quickly and succinctly connect this space of transformation to Hawthorne/Irving. I.e. something like: "As with the secret valley in 'Rip Van Winkle,' the "Other World" is more vivid and enjoyable than the world Coraline leaves behind." Or: "Despite its appearances, the 'Other World,' like the woods in 'Young Goodman Brown', poses serious challenges to Coraline."
Coraline is able to gain a wider and more mature perspective of the world by being able to accept and appreciate the help of the neighbors who she hated in the beginning of the film.
This paragraph pretty much repeats the previous one. Better to use this space in the essay to more fully explain how the narrative shows us these things.
Conclusions often just repeat things. However, avoid this in a two-page essay. I won't forget your main idea. Instead simply use your final paragraph(s) to complete your argument.
However, Coraline has gained perspective of the world around her through the trials of finding the lost children’s eyes.
Here is the A', but it's kind of weak. How exactly did the search for lost children's eyes give Coraline this perspective? And, what evidence does the movie show of Coraline's transformation? The essay seems to punt on these important connections.
The “Other Mother” kidnaps Coraline’s parents, and the only way Coraline can return to reality with her real parents is to find the eyes of the children that the “Other Mother” has stolen the souls of. Coraline is able to find the three sets of eyes around the “Other World” with the help of all her neighbors.
Here, we get a little too much plot summary. You should only use details of plot or setting or description or action to develop your argument. Avoid summary by asking: how does this detail, description, etc. contribute to my argument? to the development of my main idea?
The summary here actually tends to distract from the essay's argument, i.e. how does the search for missing eyes demonstrate what Coraline "learns"? And how does the initiation into a world of appearances make her less self-centered?
By the way, I don't know this movie but it sounds pretty creepy.
The buttons in the “Other World” both represent artificiality and a barrier to see what is real and true. In the “Other World” Coraline learns about false appearances as she realizes that her “Other Mother” is plotting to steal her soul as she has done with three previous children.
Here, a detail the "button eyes" is connected to broader theme about seeing and perception and appearances. That's very nice!
the films colors become more vibrant and lively
Again, this essay does a good job with using details to illustrate and develop an argument. Notice here and in the rest of the paragraph how details about the "Other World" are used to support the argument about difference and transformation.
Coraline views everyone that is around her as annoyances to her life, and feels the most pity for herself for being stuck living so far away from her friends.
Although this is a pretty good description of "A" - - the starting point of the narrative, don't forget: "A" is only important in so far as it becomes the basis for change.
This writer does a pretty good job of pointing to the essay's argument about A - B - A'. And, notice how the writer puts their topic sentence at the end of the paragraph. I like that variation on the usual paragraph structure.
However, in the first paragraph, the writer says that Coraline begins the narrative as self-centered. My question for this writer would be: how do the things described in this paragraph define Coraline's self-centeredness? I.e. each paragraph should develop a part of the argument you're trying to make. Try to make sure this development explicit.
The apartments and surrounding grounds are decayed, barren, dull, and bleak.
I like the way this writer describes things with just the right level of detail - - not too much, not too little.
perspective
One way of improving this paragraph would be to reference the stories we've read, to quickly connect Coraline to Hawthorne and/or Irving. So for instance, little tag phrases like: "Like Goodman Brown, she learns about false appearances . . . "; or, "Once she returns, like Robin in "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," Caroline gains a mature perspective of the world as a whole . . . "
These kind of quick, efficient connecting phrases show me that you are thinking about Coraline within the context of our course. They also help me to see how deeply you've thought about the texts and ideas we've discussed.
These are formidable challenges that should encourage us to look to new spaces and models in which democratic alternatives might be better supported.
to round back on "surveillance capitalism" . . . so many academic technologies are not isolated. That is, they exist in a data ecosystem . . . for instance, the LMS data gets fed into other programs/algorithms . . . Would it be fair to say that, behind the scenes, academic institutions also create a kind of "surveillance economy"? Marc Bousquet has dedicated some time trying to elucidate this "higher ed informatics" . . . How might a Freirean pedagogy tackle this extra-mural reality? Or not . . .
to develop a participatory relationship with the digital technologies of their everyday life.
Is there a way to read this as: technologies are a means, not an end? I.e. that your argument is about how technologies are socialized, not "technology" per se? Or, alternatively, we often think of institutions "using" or "adopting" technologies, but technologies can also prefigure new institutional/social relations? Trying to avoid techno-determinism here . . .
It may be far fetched to think that some of those resources might be reclaimed for a humanistic and participatory approach to digital technology within the classroom and beyond.
Call me old-fashioned, but I wonder why this shouldn't feature more prominently w/i academic labor? I.e. too far-fetched, speaking as a union member, for this - - reclaiming technology both for humanistic purposes and commoning/communising technology by and for teachers/workers . . . to be included in collective bargaining?
I’d like to shift the focus slightly to consider not how digital technologies either support or obstruct learning objectives, but how their use in education profoundly shapes students’ consumer habits, expectations, imagination, and capabilities in regards to digital technology in general.
Yes. This echoes a debate within the OER movement, I think - - between the "affordability" argument for OER and the "open pedagogy" argument. I.e. a debate about capitalism trying to claw OER back into value-production etc.
“digital oppression”
Very cool connection here - - digital and Freire - - and a lot to think about. What is the relationship between "oppression" and "exploitation"? What might "oppression" leave out that "exploitation" foregrounds and vice versa?
surveillance capitalism
Yes, surveillance is definitely an aspect of digital capitalism. But, I wonder if this doesn't conceive of capitalism/technology in liberal terms? I.e. does "surveillance" (and its threat) belong to liberal discourses and so set the terms of discussion along some particular paths rather than others? I think this is an argument raised by Fuchs, or maybe it's Dyer-Witheford? Or maybe both.
an incubator for alternatives to capitalist digital media
Again, reminds me of Jim Groom. Alternatively, also reminds me of the Wobblies (IWW): " . . . we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old."
the formation of new institutional, curricular, and technical modes for supporting and incentivizing this type of innovative practice.
Yes. The technology can't be isolated from the institution and from institutional transformation. This is hard work and escapes our usual sense of "pedagogy" or even "profession." (Tried to point to some ways to make this move once a while ago.)
A growing number of scholars have demonstrated how student writing and the student experience can be positively enhanced when carried out on collaborative or public-facing digital platforms rather than learning management system
like OpenPedagogy? . . . a movement that grows out of but exceeds OER . . .
capitalist digital media companies’s broader monopoly
I wonder . . .how does Wikipedia fit in here . . especially their Wikiedu efforts? (Thinking about this as I'm doing a Wikipedia project with students this semester.)
the training of technological consciousness
This is a great phrase . . .and, imo, that "consciousness" needs to become "self-consciousness." This was one lesson from Randy Bass's Visible Knowledge Project: what started out as a kind of tech and teaching thing morphed into a focus on learning, and tech became a tool for participants to examine learning/to become "reflective practitioners" . . .
our way of adopting technology in the university “teaches” students to become passive users with little expectation of being able to collectively understand or modify the various digital technologies that mediate our educational and everyday activities.
absolutely but not always .. . when it's instituted in a certain way (LMS, CMS, etc.) . . . but how, for instance, would Jim Groom's "edu-punk" approach fit in here?
acques Rancière’s work on Joseph Jacotot
I wonder too if the "ignorant schoolmaster" might also be re-mediated as the "ignorant game designer," i.e. your work sounds like the work of a game designer - - creating environments, problems, and goals that must be solved independently and collectively by the player?
collegial spirit of a tabletop game
how was the fit between "tabletop game" and students whose sense of "game" now refers to apps and MMO/MMORPG/etc. games?
explores
lovely! . . again, mark this as properly thieved!
creating a free/open encyclopedic resource on the work of William Faulkner(
love this project! . . will mis/appropriately steal it . . . thanks
the exaggerated reverence for the text,
. . . reminds me of the "broken" textures you often find in proletarian/working-class writing, where we can see the shattered/distorted mirror-image of canonical authority . . . or, as Stephen Dedalus opines of his/Joyce's Calibanesque/colonial status: "It is the symbol of Irish art. The cracked looking-glass of a servant." . . an inspiration perhaps for Naipaul's later "mimic men"?
a strange “elevated” voice,
a weird but familiar voice . . . David Bartholomae once wrote about how students "invent the university" in their acts of writing . . . or, invent an imagined university
The amount of metadata contain within those five paragraphs has the reader completely lose his place/time in the story due to the density and complexity of the annotation.
I agree . . . there comes a point where annotation outweighs the text itself . . . making for distraction and worse.
The way the Slate annotations enrich the characters is not by trying to analyze them into extinction, but by giving the audience a chance to consider aspects of their circumstances and decide for themselves what roles these characters play in the story.
a good way of posing this distinction . . .
there are countless things that Voyant is incapable of revealing to the reader.
indeed, a tool is only as useful as the task at hand . . . i.e. the value of a tool depends on how we define the task. The question of satire is a great one. I wonder if there are any textual markers of satire? What if you were to compare Swift's satire to non-satirical treatments of the same problem?
The most interesting thing I noticed when using Voyant was the correlation between the words beautiful, Irene, and Judy. The word “beautiful” appears exactly in the same places that “Judy” does. While “beautiful” was used less frequently than “Judy,” making the parabola shorter, the two parabolas matched identically.
This is really interesting . . is the story really about marriage?
This project also made me realize how important it is to have a stronger knowledge of the tools Voyant offers. I still felt like my approach was a bit random, since my lack of knowledge did not allow me to get the full usage out of the many tools in Voyant. Maybe I could have answered my main question if I knew which tools would help me the most. Then again, maybe not.
Indeed, always the question for tools like Voyant: to what extent does the inquiry lead the tool and to what extent does the tool lead/determine the inquiry? When I read Digital Humanities criticism, I think it's often the latter . . . and usually that's kind of interesting, but not overly relevant.
Unfortunately, while Fitzgerald may describe and allude to wealth, he does not use the word, ‘wealth,’ very often, making my question rather obsolete.
but even this is interesting . i.e. how does Fitzgerald create this sense/atmosphere/theme without using the word "wealth"? Are there other key words for him to signify wealth?
This greater understanding of unstated assumptions, biases, and sociocultural realities could contribute to practices that lead to more desirable social outcomes rather than continuing to use edtech in a way that may ultimately exacerbate rather than mitigate the very problems it promises to solve.
one sociocultural/ideological phenomeon omitted is: labor . . . to what extent does edtech focus, as in much technology generally, to eliminate labor and its costs, to raise productivity, to inscribe greater control over creation of value?
Currency
looks good
Eliot
Eliot reading his poem.
Eight
that's a lot of kids to lose, isn't it?
CHAPTER XXV
While this segment has a strong potential to become an independent revenue stream for the company, a free education market place with a look and feel similar to its e commerce segment can definitely provide a boost to Amazon’s existing products in the short term.
ancillary market . . . OER as a means to selling other stuff
What will these services mean for school districts and teachers? And, more important questions linger, such as, “Should teachers and school districts be trying to create their own content when so much is available online already? If not, who curates OER content?”
Distribution trumps creation? Framing the OER question.
“With the technology, content and expertise that Amazon has, we believed we could provide value,” he said.
A Walmart tactic? E.g. leverage size and scale to muscle out rivals, including non-profits like Merlot etc.?
But the other, more troubling development that is implied by the issues surrounding the very avoidable errors with the Inspire platform is that the platform focuses on the least interesting element of open educational resources: distribution. It would have been great to see a high-profile effort that simplified and supported authorship and remixing. The current conversations about OER remain mired in the very narrow vision of textbook replacement. The transformational potential of OER will come when we embrace the potential of both teacher and learner as creator. Open licensing makes this potential easier to realize, as it removes many of the barriers enshrined within traditional publishing and licensing schemes.
distribution vs. authoring/remix as critical problem in OER
As the Google leaders indicated, however, a major challenge is content curation in the OER world.
the "discovery problem" . . .emerging as the common sense business criticism of OER
“Their business model is probably more about serving ancillary products around the free resources. If you’re interested in a resource about science and there are practical elements to the lesson, you might be offered a bundle of the things you need in order to deliver that lesson: batteries, wires, lightbulbs, and that sort of thing.”
vampire capitalism
For Esposito, the answer to that question is likely to involve data: “Inspire is a stalking horse to build a database of material on the K-12 professional community.”
The payoff is in the data.
I found the tools that created the data as lists or bars to be more useful (at least for my project) while some like the Donut chart was actually pretty confusing to use.
This is important . . what a tool doesn't show or "do" can tell us something about the tool, but also about the questions we're asking . . .
It also exposed that the majority of participants casted are white, which validates the show’s reputation.
good! . . . I wonder what kinds of things Silk didn't show or wasn't helpful with?
If people were willing to agree on having “high level” demands, I believe people are imperfect, somethings are likely to fail occasionally–I’m a bit cynical because people with power sometimes abuse it.
Yes, it's easy these days to be cynical. What kind of governance does DW envision? E.g. are there "rules" to the commons in the same way that, for instance, Wikipedia is governed by lots of guidelines, suggestions, and quasi-rules?
with more cool notes
This is really interesting . . .so far. Does your Silk experience suggest new research questions?
Silk displayed that I had no such column of data
yeah . . .that was odd. . . I'm thinking we need to figure out the filters a bit more . . . it's actually a pretty simple operation (comparing IMDB vs. mixed and non-standard, etc.) . . . try running your data through Google Fusion . .
The Mission School in San Francisco.
Nice . . .also, you can link to it.
But my question is, is there a middle ground?
A good question. I think Hardt is trying to distinguish between private (market capitalism) and public (State) property . . the common exists in between these, neither market nor state-regulated . . .people producing the commons, a la (perhaps) McGonigle's "collective intelligence" . .
The map was especially helpful to me since there is an important geographical aspect in my data pertaining to the origin of R&B musicians and record labels. The various ways to filter the data was also useful in organizing my categories pertaining to record labels who signed r&b artists and era based peaks in popularity for the r&b genre.
good! . . . how about posting up some of the visualizations that Silk helped you with . . .
the struggle between property and the common
Yes. This is the critical conflict for Hardt . . . though the meaning of both terms has changed since Marx and the previous version of "communism" . . .
I am still not 100% sure exactly which questions I want to answer when working with my spreadsheet, but I am hoping that as soon as I start working with some of the tools,
OK. You don't have to start with precise questions. You might even start with a basic question: what is it about Chandler or crime/noir films that interest me?
and I think there is a lot more to it than what I have found so far,
Good! Keep me updated via your blog . . .
the Timeline JS
Good. Timeline JS seems pretty finicky, but Fusion is a good place to start. And, don't forget, we always have Palladio.
British Gothic/horror from 1890-1930. I did have some trouble finding enough data to support an exclusive topic such as “British Gothic” between 1890-1930
yes . . so maybe a new focus on the rise of "popular gothic"? In other words, we know the roots of the contemporary horror narrative lies way back in the Romantic period and then through the Victorians. But is there a period when horror becomes a mass market genre? (I'm thinking about Stephen King et al's antecedents.)
Also the notion of the academic community is something I now question more.
I wonder if any community, to be a community (perhaps a la Shirky), has to engage with a dialectic of openness/closed . . . In some ways, the value of academic knowledge seems premised on a certain degree of closed-ness?
What type of person is best suited for a movie adaption? Is disability becoming a more openly discussed social concern? Are white males still being focused on or are biopics representing other races and genders? Are biopics still white male-centric even if disability or other social issues are becoming more represented?
good questions to start with . . .how has the data collection shaped your questions?
This did show me that once I have a bigger set of data that it will seem more interesting, however I do like that I can easily filter through the data and see if anything is starting to connect.
excellent! . . . the tool's have their own personalities . . .but those idiosyncrasies can also offer different perspectives on the data . . .and on your research question . . .
Commonism is quite different, especially since there are so many people left out to dry, it would be in everyone’s best interest to distribute more of the world’s commodities to better sustain our world.
nice . . I wonder if D-W is feeling the Bern? . . . how far do you think peer-production/commonism as a social model can stretch?
will be ambivalent or not within the story
excellent . . I like how your work with the data is also perhaps helping you to dig deeper into an analysis of the comics . . .
Silk gave me an idea of how many femme fatales I had listed and makes me think that I may need to be more strict when it comes to the criteria that constitutes a noir story. For instance, what makes a femme fatale?
good . . . one possible happy side effect of running the data . . .
Publisher’s Weekly’s bestsellers
Cate . . did you try to access it via the library? Check in with me today (Tuesday, May 2) . .
Tragedy of the Commons
yes . . it's a very romantic picture of the Commons in some ways . . .after all, even the commons can host plenty of conflict, dispute, etc.
Open Scholars because it would help me understand how different people work, which I can pick and choose from to help my own research.
yes, this was a really brilliant point: that opening up research means opening up the process . . . and that could be immensely helpful to other scholars and learners . . .
coterie knowledge
what do you think the semantics of "coterie" do? are there other less loaded ways of characterizing this knowledge?
Movie Title, Year Released, Genre, Movie Rating,
kudos, Open Scholar! . . . your dataset is looking good . . .so, tell me a little about how you will sort it to get to your research questions? has the data collection itself opened up any new questions?
I feel encouraged by my peers comments and spreadsheets to continue fine tuning my spreadsheet.
good . . keep finetuning . . .now might also be a good time to pause and go back to your original research question(s) and the "Big Idea" that you're trying to get at . . .is your dataset launching you in the right direction to engage with these?
He is also wary, though, of the possibility of an excessive saturation of people who do not know what they are doing or saying–as well as those in the realm of academics that are more secretive and guarded about their works. Burton also acknowledges the fact that laws of privacy may very well be invaded or violated through the total open access to works.
yes . . I wonder if we could work out a Creative Commons licensing scheme for scholarship? . . e.g. different flavors of "open" depending on the stages and needs of projects?
The number of book sales was astoundingly difficult to find.
why? .. describe this for me . . .might be helpful
Researchers and scholars affects their communities with a trickle-down effect.
yes . . . and Burton wants to open the spigot . . .or, maybe better, undam the river . . .how does this idea of "open" relate to Hardt/Dyer-Witheford?
Witheford’s proposal would not only call into action all societies to become more actively engaged in the world around them (Something that drastically opposes a 1st world civilization that is seemingly checked-out of reality) but also asks people to show up for each other, to be better people, to serve the greater good instead of a greed-driven and fear-based way of living.
tell me: how would you compare Hardt's "communism 2.0" to DW's "commonism"?
“What would it mean for something to be ours when we do not possess it?”
a really key question that sums up so many of the issues that Hardt raises . . . what do you think it would mean?
Information, much like the ocean, is also a commons and is the basis of future co-creating and infrastructure organizing.
Shawna . . this is an awesome summary of Bollier!
I feel people are too concerned with prestige and monetary gain to allow their work to be readily available, especially in its early stages.
yes . . . this is a good point: what is the incentive to be open (as opposed to closed/proprietary)? Is it simply altruism? Perhaps Burton needs to make a more compelling case for how "open" makes for better, stronger scholarship?
Though, I understand that some people don’t want to share everything they know or everything they’re working on, so I don’t think anyone should be “forced” to share their knowledge. The idea of openness is great, but maybe it’s not for everyone.
good . . or, maybe it isn't for every stage of the process . . or, even more particularly, maybe there are different kinds of openness appropriate to different stages . . . e.g. inventing, researching, writing, presenting, etc.
When looking at all of the different spreadsheets I realize that I need a lot more information on my own spreadsheet, since I only – so far – have about 30 rows.
good . . .but more so long as it is purposeful more . . e.g. so long as it seems to be helping you answer your research question . . .
I understand education as a two way street, where there are degrees of give and take, so to speak. I appreciate the way Burton uses the word ‘bridge’.
yes, the "bridge" is a really useful metaphor . . .though scholars are "bridging" even if they aren't as open as they might be . . e.g. bridging to other scholars etc. . . . Burton makes a persuasive case for both why and how openness benefits both institution and public . .
I think I want to look at how SNL has affected our entertainment culture, that is, how has SNL shaped individuals when they move forward onto other projects?
your dataset is really shaping up . . . and refining and/or expanding your criteria at this point looks like a smart move
allows the reader to visualize what an open vat of information means in our living, breathing society.
yes . . and, hopefully, to imagine what the open vat might do if it were really open . . . imo, the commons is not as dichotomous as Hardt presents it, e.g. there are flaws in the commons as well . . .but it does help us find a critical perspective on the way things are now . . e.g. the enclosure of digital/network, ecological/social common wealth . .
Simultaneously
yes . . I agree . . I think there's more of a tension between openness and proprietary than Suber might want to acknowledge, e.g. openness is good but it's not angelic and there are reasons to "restrict" openness, perhaps . . .
Patenting is safer for the inventor in ways where someone can’t steal their ideas and pass it off as their own. Their product can still be publicized and shared with others and the inventor will always be given credit for their product and ideas.
yes . . .I think that's why the Creative Commons licensing protocols are key here . . e.g. it's not about denying inventors/creators, but about opening up and increasing the circulation of their inventions/creations . . . the CC licenses give creators a range of ways to control the relation between open and closed. . .
These are things I can try and add to my spreadsheet.
or . . .you can show patterns via the data and use these patterns to support an argument (about longevity and ethnicity, audience, etc.) a la algorithmic criticism!
However it is difficult to see how these websites would be sustained, if they lost the financial assistance of their membership fees; especially because open access would mean much more traffic on these sorts of sites — perhaps requiring a more sophisticated (and costly) server system.
yes . . .I think sustainability is one of the great, as-yet unanswered questions of the Open movement . . we all agree, perhaps, about the value of openness, but the infrastructure for this openness is still not clear
I think OA is very interesting and would be incredibly useful. As a student currently having to research for a history paper, I think about how easier my project would be to complete if more works were OA.
yes, does the traditional scholarly system of knowledge - - e.g. based on scarcity - - really work well with our current "open" systems?
What would communism look like in the contemporary world and could it work better now than it did before.
and Hardt points to some of the incipient features of communism/commonism lurking even in today's world . . .
Commons was spoken of not only as an online space but how if functioned in all aspects of life, such as the considerations of the ecological sphere, the social sphere and then the networked sphere. It was interesting to see how this way of thinking or the introduction of commonism as a practice could feed into all these areas.
Yes. Collective intelligence/openness/commons weren't invented by technology . . . these are social/historical phenomena which, perhaps, technology picks up on and develops.
And one aspect I really like is that I’m constantly finding myself asking more questions as I add more data and going back, adding columns and creating a wider pool, such as the addition of including the number of episodes the television show had as a whole that can then be used as a comparison to how many of them the characters were alive for. This is an addition that I think could have some really interesting results both for each individual character and for the project as a whole.
This is a really good sign. How has the data collection started to reshape your research questions? Perhaps it's time to run a rough draft of the data processing to see what kinds of evidence/pattern you're developing?
In short I find the Open Scholar concept to be a compelling one. It seems to fit well with the Cathedral and the Bazaar metaphor discussed in the Raymon essay.
really good connection! Yet, wouldn't Raymond agree that the cathedral is an appropriate and productive model for some kinds of things/goals? I.e. do you think Gideon's rhetoric seems to castigate the "institution" without perhaps recognizing some its strengths/benefits?
First, his explanation of the fundamental difference between Capitalism and “a society beyond Capitalism”, a.k.a “a movement of movement”, or “Commonism”. He notes that while in Capitalism, a “commodity is a good produced for sale”, in Commonism, “a common is a good produced, or conserved, to be shared”.
I wonder if capitalism is perfectly cool with commonism in some respects? In fact, if contemporary capitalism depends on and cultivates the commons. For instance, isn't the Facebook platform a kind of commons? Yet, it's also an exemplum of today's "cognitive capitalism."
Yet, Gideon Burton feels that this is still a problem whether the scholar is closed or open and it’s only hurting us if we keep seeing one’s progress in knowledge to be only acknowledged by the institutions and nobody else.
yes . . .I wonder though if his binaries (closed/open) aren't a bit dichotomous . . .are there ways in which the "openness" of the open scholar also depends on a certain "closedness"? For instance, vide Burton, how would new audiences also pull the scholar away from earlier, collegial audiences and communities?
As Burton opens up this new way of defining, he states “Scholars should be public intellectuals, responsive to multiple audiences, engaged in meaningful interchange across disciplines and boundaries of all kinds.”
this is an attractive idea . . .but I wonder if the power of scholarship is also it's defect . . .e.g. how much does scholarship depend on deep, narrow, intensive interest pursued apart from the world? . . . how would Shirky respond to Burton's arguments, I wonder?
I believe this piece really promotes the idea of going back to communism’s roots, yet also applying it to our current economic climate. Communism is focusing on what is shared and what is put aside for a certain minority. Putting what is shared over what is left for only a certain amount of citizens.
yes . . . Dyer-Witheford prefers the term "commonism" . . .but both seem to extend the ideas of open source software etc. into other spheres . . .e.g. the commons and commoning as an inspiration, if not model, for non-State/non-market society . .
Have there been any movies produced since his death? Is McKenna’s work alive in any songs? If so, how many songs in the last 16 years have featured cuts of his lectures? With the rising trend of Terrence McKenna’s popularity after his death can we pair any other trends or cultural movements and shifts? McKenna’s children are also widely popular on the internet; how popular are these websites and how many people do they reach? What types of media are available on the websites of Terrence’s two children?
Whoa! This may be tooooo many questions. Lets start with the first set - - e.g. using data to document the popularity of McKenna in the ways you indicate. Once you've completed this, you may find patterns that help to answer some of your other questions. But, let's tackle the data first.
add where these artist come from, and some hit songs they put out and where these songs ranked on the music charts. Then I can look at some newer artists with a similar soul, gather the same information and see how they stack up.
I think you'll have quite enough with this. As we spoke of in class . . .you'll need some way of defining the connection between 50s/60s soul music and contemporary versions - - e.g. what are the key elements of 50//60s soul music? What distinguishes it - - rhythm, structure, melody, etc. Then you can find patterns of these same elements in contemporary music/soul music.
I would like to find out what kind of similarities his stories have and also look at the relationship between the female and male characters. Most (if not all) of his novels and short stories have a male protagonist, a detective, so I would like to find out what role the women play in the stories.
Great. How will you define "similarity"? In terms of plot? Character? Theme? All of these? Also, how will you define the characterization of women? What different roles do women play? What different characteristics do these women and their roles have? Would be great to get a look at your spreadsheet.
I have entered about 400 pieces of data, give or take, on my semester project spreadsheet.
Excellent. Can you post something about this process? Tips for your fellow students? Comments? Things to watch out for? Also, in the spirit of open scholarship, how about making the spreadsheet open/visible to the class?
I would collect data upon all gothic/horror short stories, novellas and novels, searching for evidence of this image among this corpus.
Good. But, all horror/gothic short stories is a very big data set. Is there some way to limit it a bit? Perhaps by time period (e.g. from 1890 to 1930)? by author gender? by particular subgenre, e.g ghost story? And, probably for sure by nationality - - American, British, etc.
What the settings and sub genres said about the popularity of each at the time. Where their trends that last for a bit? What does the budget say about how studios were willing to spend. Where some studios willing to spend more or where some studios not willing to. Did settings such as space or futuristic cities reflect things going on in the real world? Looking at the data for these I hope will provide some answers.
so . . you seem to have two possible topics - - settings and budgets for science fiction films. I think you'll need to choose one or the other. Probably, the first will be easier to work with. What is the scope of your data? All science fiction films? Some period? Probably, with a focus as wide as setting, I'd try for a bigger dataset - - e.g. all sci fi films from 1920 to 2020. This larger set might also reveal more patterns, in terms of setting.
I am not sure what else to look at other than the causes of death, the genre of show, whether there are any historical correlations and show ratings, such as viewer count. I could possibly widen it to look at things such as the age of the characters, whether they were in relationships or not and how long they were on the show before their death? I also do like the idea of looking at what role the characters have in the shows, such as villain etc, as that could be an interesting addition to the data collected.
Looks like a good data source/set. I think the next step is to figure out a couple of research questions - - these will allow you to work through the data and establish what's significant and what's not. Are you interested in why the characters are eliminated? Is this related to the role they play in the plot? E.g. one initial sorting might involve "plot role." But that's just one, you can add others that are significant. E.g. you have a pile of data - - now it's time to think about what kinds of patterns you might find or be interested in finding in this data.
The graphic novel that I’m going to use as the foundation to the data I collect is Jim Steranko’s Chandler: Red Tide, a book not known by many but celebrated by the hardcore fans. You can see where popular titles such as Sin City had gained inspiration from Steranko’s work as well as Steranko himself paying homage to Raymond Chandler.
Good! Now that we've got the "ideal" type . . . it's time to use Chandler as the source for your key traits/motifs. E.g. how does Chandler give you the essential criteria (in terms of motifs, themes, forms) for establishing which books belong or don't belong to noir?
What different races were involved int he stonewall riots? What gender were the major players and what ethnic background did they have?
Good, things are getting narrower in scope and more manageable. What will your data sources be? Histories of the "riots"? Newspaper accounts? I'm wondering if you might not also think about their place background, e.g. were the folks involved from Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn? This might correlate in interesting ways with ethnicity/race.
What kind of corpus?: All novels written by the primary Lost Generation Writers (Fitzgerald, Elliot, Joyce, Anderson, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Kafka, Stein, etc.), between the end of WWI and the Black Tuesday (1914-1929).
This is a big corpus . . . .are you going to read all of the novels and diaries and bios of all of these folks? (I hope not.) How about starting by restricting your corpus to one or two American writers (say, Hemingway and Fitzgerald). My other question: are you mapping travel in their novels/fiction? or, biographical travel? Or, both?
The annotations differ in that some annotations contain conversations between Genius users on the correct interpretation of particular lyrics.
are these conversations missing in the Whitman poem? or, are they just different?
Perhaps it’d be more useful to examine specific genres of film: comedy, drama, horror, etc. How does each genre treat the cannabis motif differently?
yes . . how about thinking about it this way: which genres "favor" cannabis or drug use? and, does this patter change over time? e.g. does drug use shift from drama to comedy? So, first, collection of movies with significant drug motif, then sorting into genres, and then plotting over time?
but need my spreadsheet to be set up immaculately (what a sad turn of phrase) so that certain shifts and patterns relating to standard v. non-standard dialects will jump out at me; then, I will have an easier time knowing which of the DH tools to use with my dataset.
fair enough . . let's talk about this in class on Thursday . . .maybe we can get Cate to lead the discussion.
Do high grossing books create high grossing movies?
good . . 'though this question may be too pointed. E.g. maybe better to draw back a bit and just ask: what is the relationship between high grossing books and high grossing movies. How is the data collection going?
The mention of user-driven solutions drives home Raymond’s main point about Linux operating from the function of a bazaar rather than a cathedral; there is not a one-to-many dynamic present (as is often seen in a church), but rather a many-to-many operating system frequently seen in markets and bazaars.
excellent connection! . . . and I like your emphasis on "interest-driven" participation, another connection to McGonigal. The "bazaar" changes so many relations, per Raymond. But the initial condition is openness; in part, perhaps what he's really describing is how to manage openness itself?
I’m not sure that it would be enough to only look at one single novel, so another idea could be to compare different crime novels from 1930-1980 and maybe look at how/if the typical characters have changed over time and what kind of similarities the different plots have.
yes . . this sounds like a more typical DH project because it involves "distant reading." I also like the focus on a genre/subgenre (the crime novel), though you'll want to think about how you'll define this genre. And, how about focusing on one typical character? Detective? Villain? Helpers? etc. This will make the data more manageable.
For my semester project I was thinking of looking into sitcoms as I’m always watching new ones that are created, and reruns of shows that have ended but are still shown on a daily basis.
So, from the sitcoms you mention here, it looks like you might be interested in sitcoms with ethnic/racialized characters. I wonder if there isn't a more manageable project there - - e.g. what is the fortune of non-white sitcoms since the birth of the sitcom? Do we see periods where "non-traditional" sitcoms are more popular? (I'm thinking of the 70s and Good Times, Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, etc.) And, periods when the sitcom seems to return to its "white" flavor?
Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and female authors like Virginia Wolff and Edith Wharton.
Sounds very interesting! But . . that could also be a lot of letters. How about if you started with one author and tested the size of the dataset? Does one of these authors have a pretty easily accessible archive of letters? (E.g. you don't necessarily want to travel to Texas or Dublin to collect your data.) I think the idea of charting number of letters, recipients and destinations, along with chronology should reveal some interesting patterns.
The other example I chose, again mainly for nostalgic purposes, was the Notorious B.I.G. lyrics.
I'm wondering: do Notorious BIG fans apply the same kind of analysis, questions, method to their annotations as those you saw in Steinbeck?
Or perhaps limit that scope to the invention and influence of other musical technologies like the 8-track, the cassette, the compact disc, the mp3, and now the incredible reach of satellite radio and Spotify
This sounds pretty interesting. How would you measure this? In terms of sales? Units sold? I suspect there's already been some industry work around this issue. Perhaps a more focused question would be: in what genres did vinyl make its reappearance? E.g. are there particular genres that are more hospitable to vinyl?
All in all, though still laden with some tricky software jargon foreign to me; the tone, flow, and optimism of the essay improves it’s clarity, and Raymon with a sense of humility explains the profound significance of the motivated user-driven approach.
a very good summary! . . . the two metaphors are very powerful . . .but I wonder too, after our class discussion, what there limits are.
My main hypothesis will focus on when the genre became popular within comic books and how the evolutionary tree of crime noir comics has developed.
This is a good research question. In your next post, tell me about what kind of data you'll be collecting, how you'll collect it, and how you'll start organizing it.
I was also thinking about doing this project on The Black Panther Party if the music project is too broad and untangible (which it might be). But I’m not sure what questions I would ask about the movement that would require meaningful research. I will think more about it!
in re our previous exchange, I don't think the music topic is too broad . . it's all about the way you frame questions so that your shape and limit the scope of the project. . . .on the other hand, the BPP is also a great topic . . .again, you'll need to come up with some questions that help you to frame the topic and your inquiry . . .
I think I want to look at the different motivations each person had to get into comedy. Maybe some did stand-up, maybe some did improv. Something else I find interesting is looking at the locations in prominent comedy cities where these guys began. What are some of the most outstanding clubs?
yes . . .I think you might be on to something here . . .something like "where do the SNL performers come from"? "where do they end up?" (film genre, standup, writers, etc.)
The problem I’m having is thinking about how to digitize these ideas. I don’t feel that these questions are solid enough at the moment.
yes. . . I think the issue is not yet about DH/digitizing but about your research/inquiry questions. What interests you in Kubrick's movies? Do you notice elements of his films that work as motifs or devices, e.g. that appear from film to film? etc.
How significantly have each of these technologies influenced the popularity of Vinyl? How has Vinyl survived? How has it come back in the last decade? Another angle at these questions in terms of collecting data could be to examine which bands are selling the most Vinyl during the resurgence by year? Or what genre is selling? Where? How significant are the differences in sales based on location? Who is buying them?
All good questions . . . the next step might be to start narrowing down . . for instance, questions which might be answered via DH inquiry and questions which might be more difficult to address via DH inquiry. I think your genre question looks pretty promising - - e.g. what is the relations between genres and vinyl revival?
strictly entertainment
interesting . . "strictly entertainment" as opposed to the lit texts? . . . how would you characterize the audience or motive for the lit text annotations?
so I feel it is important I know more about this historic movement so I can better understand them and the community as a whole.
ok . . a good start . . .but it's a big topic. What kinds of questions are you going to pursue? E.g. what questions do you have about the Riots? Those questions will help to shape your DH inquiry . . .
The greatest demonstration of McGonagle’s ideas came in the form of raid bosses.
interesting . . . remember, McG claims that we need to educate students/young people in CI . . . what kinds of skills or dispositions did WoW teach you? Not just intrinsic to the game (how to find gold,blast enemies . . ) but extrinsic as well . . e.g. cognition, deduction, coordination, social interaction, etc.
Some of the lyrics were up to interpretation while the literature had more of a grounded analysis possibly due to the literary criticism that already exists.
this is an interesting distinction: what do you mean by "interpretation" versus "grounded analysis"?
The reason this notion isn’t plausible is because Shirk says, “you [can’t turn] an audience into a community with technology, because they assume very different relationships between the sender and receiver of messages”
how does this principle stack up against McGonigle's CI? . . . let's see if the class can reconcile these two arguments . . .
This mode of study, using social computing, allowed us to see the play in a whole new light–it helped us understand the characters; let alone being very fun, social computing can help “out understanding of the nature of reading, interpreting, and performing” (Liu).
I wonder how different this is form performing the play in class? or using pen/pencil to create extra-textual stuff (diaries, letters)? . . .e.g. how does the electronic medium change things? Can you see any limits or drawbacks to this version of social computing?
It’s interesting to note the evolution of the reader’s agency in the Web, it reflects how technology is dependent on us.
I agree . . .and interesting how you note, per Liu, the changing forms of mediation between reader and text.
“Communities, Audiences, and Scale,”
a most excellent summary!
“By asking players to cooperate to make meaning out of an ambiguous system, the game-based hive mind celebrates the individual perspective even as it embraces the larger, intricate intelligence that emerges only at the scale digital networks afford.” She references the psychological function of the ambiguous system as it serves the creative aspects of individuals and “to draw players into the collective.”
you know, I think this is one of the most interesting points in McG's essay: that CI is really about allowing/enabling participants to handle/manage "ambiguity." Don't you think that our culture, especially our educational systems, demonize ambiguity? I.e. that a problem has either a correct or incorrect answer. Students need to find that single answer or at least bubble it in. I.e. what would it mean to put ambiguity at the center of learning and education?
“Instead of telling a story, we would present the evidence of that story, and let the players tell it to themselves.” The designers produce a stimulus, and the players have the choice, privilege, and free will (sounding biblical enough yet?) to interpret it to their best understanding.
this, to me, is one of the most interesting features of I Love Bees . . . it's not about telling a story but about supplying the materials for others to create a story. On the one hand, this is kind of like cultivating inference, activating a different kind of imagination. On the other hand, isn't this how we usually think of literary texts and their value? E.g. they offer a starting-point for the reader's engagement. Don't we always "create" a new text from the poems/stories/etc. that we read? Maybe it's about creating more openness in narrative rather than eschewing narrative altogether?
Stanley Fish’s “Is There a Text in this Class?” For him, there is talk of the “interpretive communities” nurturing and expanding not only the author’s intent, but that there is also a constant re-writing of the content in the mind of the reader.
yes . . .but imagine Fish's "interpretive community" blown-up to massive scale, as in the genius.com site. Do you think his description of interpretive communities still works at this scale? This would be a really interesting question to answer at more length, say in an essay etc.
I found this particularly interesting because this is the exact opposite of how offline society works, individuals must succumb to the norms of the group or be cast out.
yes, though groups often allow for a certain amount of individuality or non-conformity. I think Shirky is interested in how groups regulate or manage this difference . . .
Basically I just don’t see the practically of this collective intelligence in real life unless everyone starts out at the same point like in a video game. It’s also very possible that I’m not fully understanding the concept.
I think you understand the concept. And, I agree with your point. Does McG assume that we all start from the same point? How does CI handle the notion of latecomers or those who start with less than others?
I feel like collective intelligence only works when people share a common goal, and that’s not so common in real life,
yes, this is a very important point . . . you can have all the individual knowers possible and great CI platforms . . but without some sense of shared purpose/desire/interest, I don't see how you get CI. Does McG address this anywhere?
No one knows everything, everyone knows something”
yes, from Levy . . . but let's assume that we all know something . . . what does it take to bring that something together with others and to make all those particular somethings into a greater whole/product?
Because this mixture of settings is now possible, we can look at texts in a group through the utilization of tools such as Voyant, or on another street, Reddit.
This is really interesting. Social reading does not of course exclude "individual" reading. But, I wonder if there are different purposes, benefits, etc. for each? And, I wonder if there's a certain skill involved in knowing when to shift from one to the other and how to weigh each?
I agree when more than one mind collectively comes together, there are greater results as it helps with “Stage Two,” where each individual in a group is able to come up with a theory that one wouldn’t have thought up on their own, and the group collectively fix the theory and tests its possibility or relevancy. When a group is successful with a possible theory, they can then move on to “Stage Three” to see if the theories work for similar projects, but this time with a firmer grasp on the idea.
tell you what . . let's try to test out McG's model as we move through our Beats project . . .e.g. where do we pass from cognition to cooperation and coordination?
though it becomes easy to lose sight of a purpose when voices become digital ink among a plethora of such where the debate has no central voice or direction. Every Facebook post involving controversial multimedia is marked with this very idea of digital white noise. These particular Facebook “communities” are produced through this “many to many” complex that exists among the platform.
I wonder if this is truer of "audiences" than "communities"?
by creating tools like the hashtag: a function that enables users to link up with strangers who are discussing they same topics as them. Whilst this is a gateway to community values, I am unsure how much this opportunity is taken by Twitter users.
a good starting distinction . . .the hashtag. Personally, I think there's a whole essay/book (?) to be written about the hashtag - - as "community" device, as sorting device, as social tool, etc.
McGonigal’s essay was satisfying to read following Shirky’s theories that we looked at last week. What he seemed to believe was impossible (the idea of collective intelligence functioning in the model of a community), was directly disproved by her case study.
yes! . . . we need to talk about this in class: how McG's description seems to defy Shirky's audience vs. community logic/argument.
But what I found extraordinary is the lengths people went to crack this code, they exchanged personal information, they travelled to geographical points, they created spreadsheets,
yes . . I wonder . . does McG explain the sources of this desire? I.e. was it just the thrill of solving a puzzle that drove people to participate? Or, were there other sources of engagement?
“No one knows everything, everyone knows something”.
This seems to be more democratic also. I.e. we don't just trot out experts to solve a problem. Instead, everyone can participate in problem-solving, because we all have something to add to the process.
If we are totally honest they aren’t always the best or correct ideas, but its amazing that they are happening.
This was a really interesting idea . . . that CI doesn't work via a simple sense of correct but instead by a more probablistic logic . . . participants trying out a variety of solutions until they find one that seems to work.
The Perfect Organism
this new title is much more focused than what you describe in the blog post . . . I like the idea of tracking the "alien" as device . . . and, perhaps, the relation between the "alien" and the genre and, by Morettian extension, the genre and social/historical contexts. Can you rewrite the post to reflect this new, much more interesting project?
therefore rather than becoming an insignificant part of a mass, people can “be secure in their individual identity.” This is certainly a positive in regard to collective intelligence and can be observed in the fulfillment individuals received in participating in the ‘I Love Bees’ game.
This is really interesting - - true, "crowds" are traditionally composed anonymous, blank individuals . . how is it that multiplicity (as in CI) can cultivate and fortify singularity (e.g. individual identity)?
in the trolling ‘audiences’ which Shirky talks about, the ‘players’ become a intellectual community.
good . . . I wonder if McGonigle's arguments address Shirky's proposal that scale always deforms communities into audiences? Does CI entail "community" . . . or is Shirky's distinction itself not a sturdy as it first seems?
I found myself comparing collective intelligence in some ways to the ways in which the concepts of ‘fandoms’ work online.
yes . . I think that McG may miss something here that you point to with the fandom connection: interest. E.g. doesn't CI also require a shared interest? or ideology? A shared commitment to some enjoyment, experience, idea? Can CI exist - - even with "ambiguity" etc. - - if this point of engagement is missing?
from the one-to-many concept to many-to-many.
yes . . I wonder how McG's argument fits with the "law" that Shirky proposes, e.g. that scale always tends to create audiences, rather than communities?
“We think, therefore we are,”
cogitamus, comrade! . . . what are the Doctor's main insights into how we might cultivate CI? Are there any minimal conditions for creating an environment/platform conducive to CI?
My take way from this is that the digital age of communication and conversation is inevitable.
yes . . . and Shirky's piece seems to focus on how thinking that software will solve or improve or cultivate this dimension is the wrong path . . e.g. that communities/audiences are social and human phenomenon . . .
its technical nature at describing social computing.
I'm curious . . which were the most difficult technical terms or ideas to understand?
I’d use Moretti’s graphs to analyze the rise and fall of the genre over its lifespan: it’d be interesting to know which regions, during what time period, read the most epic poetry, and to trace the popularity of epic poems featuring a “temptress”. I’d use trees to figure out divergences in the characteristics of the “temptress”.
very interesting! . . .so, you'd take the "temptress" as a device and use that to chart the history of the epic? The genre is ancient but also, because of that perhaps, its history in the last couple of centuries is complicated; e.g. you'd have to do some work figuring out which more contemporary texts belong to the genre, how they participate, etc.
A question to explore as part of my edit: which literary genres contain the most sociopaths as defined in the strictest sense of the DSM? Where are these writers from? Are there geographical hotspots? As far as my corpus goes, is it best to choose only one literary genre or can more be used?
yes . . .there's the difficulty of defining "sociopath" . . probably best to start with some particular example and work out the "type" . . but I like the genre question a lot: e.g. are there genres that are more amenable hosts to the "sociopath"? and does this hospitality change over time? (Say from pulp crime to mainstream fiction?)
there is often such similar sentiment being regularly shared that Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice might as well be the best of friends; they all seem to finish each other’s sentences in comments section…
yes . . . this is interesting . . . so perhaps "communities" grow up within/around "audiences"? I'm thinking too about fan communities - - e.g. how a "one-to-many" message can become the basis for a "many-to-many" relationship . . .
Can we have a medium that spreads messages to a large audience, but also allows all the members of that audience to engage with one another like a single community?” The answer seems to be “No.
that seems to be Shirky's point as well .. . e.g. that "community" runs up against social or sociological limits long before it runs up against technological limits?
